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Offbeat Poetry

All things poetry, just a little offbeat. Explore epic forms of literary arts, like redacted poetry, pick up some writing tips and creativity hacks, and learn about books and resources to help you find the “write” words and add to your writer’s toolkit. Cheers to creativity!

The Truth Behind Mother Goose

4 min readOct 19, 2019

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Source: OffbeatPoet.com

The simple and seemingly innocent nursery rhymes we grew up reciting; hide a twisted and dark history. Mother Goose’s ulterior social and political agendas are cleverly masked in the guise of playful nursery rhymes. Pick up a copy of The Real Mother Goose (see “Further Reading” free download links below), and reread the familiar childhood stories with eyes wide open. Let’s examine five of the most popular and creepy rhymes with some historical context: Three Blind Mice, Mary Mary, Quite Contrary, Humpty Dumpty, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, There Was an Old Women; found in, The Real Mother Goose illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright.

THREE BLIND MICE

Three blind mice! See how they run! They all ran after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice?

Meaning & Origin

The farmer’s wife, Queen Mary I of England a.k.a. Bloody Mary, beheaded three mice, representing noblemen, who plotted against her aggressive efforts to spread Catholicism throughout England in the 1500s.

MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How…

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Offbeat Poetry
Offbeat Poetry

Published in Offbeat Poetry

All things poetry, just a little offbeat. Explore epic forms of literary arts, like redacted poetry, pick up some writing tips and creativity hacks, and learn about books and resources to help you find the “write” words and add to your writer’s toolkit. Cheers to creativity!

Ø𝚏𝚏beat ℙ𝚘𝚎𝚝
Ø𝚏𝚏beat ℙ𝚘𝚎𝚝

Written by Ø𝚏𝚏beat ℙ𝚘𝚎𝚝

Inspired by words and the spaces in between. I’m a creator, writer, and deliberate dreamer who strives to understand myself, others, and the world through art.

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